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Addressing the Harms of Native American Residential Boarding Schools

Addressing the Harms of Native American Residential Boarding Schools

Informed by relationships with Native and non-Native people who are committed to truth and healing efforts within their respective Catholic institutions, Catholic Mobilizing Network reflects on the need to learn and discern Catholic institutional and individual responses to harm committed against Indigenous peoples and ongoing reparative efforts. On May 11, 2022, the U.S. Department of…

[Webinar] Dos and Don’ts of Accompanying Victim-Survivors Through a Restorative Process

[Webinar] Dos and Don’ts of Accompanying Victim-Survivors Through a Restorative Process

CMN, murder victims’ family members, and crime victim advocates gathered for a discussion of victim-survivor accompaniment in honor of the 2022 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. They unpacked the many ways that Catholic parish and ministry leaders can support victims and survivors of crime through meaningful processes that repair harm and honor the human dignity…

[Webinar] Ending the Federal Death Penalty: The Road Ahead

[Webinar] Ending the Federal Death Penalty: The Road Ahead

When President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the country stood in the wake of an unprecedented spree of 13 federal executions, ordered and administered by the Trump administration. Biden, a Catholic, is now the first U.S. president to openly oppose the death penalty, and his administration has declared the nation’s first official (though…

[Webinar] Five Lessons From Restorative Practices for the Synod on Synodality

[Webinar] Five Lessons From Restorative Practices for the Synod on Synodality

Restorative justice practices can create spaces for conversation where every voice is heard and valued. Such conversations are critical to the Synod on Synodality, a two-year process of listening and dialogue for the Catholic Church announced by Pope Francis in October 2021 and running until 2024. On Jan. 11, 2022, CMN hosted a webinar on…

[Webinar] How to Bring Restorative Justice to Your Parish or Ministry

[Webinar] How to Bring Restorative Justice to Your Parish or Ministry

Watch CMN’s four-part webinar series exploring practical components of restorative justice approaches within Catholic ministry. Each session utilizes content and tools featured in CMN’s downloadable resource: Paths of Renewed Encounter: A Restorative Justice Engagement Guide for Catholic Communities. Click here to discover CMN’s new formation program: Conversations in Communion: Parish Dialogues for Connection and Understanding….

[Webinar] “Killing in Our Name”: Federal Executions and Pro-Life Witness

[Webinar] “Killing in Our Name”: Federal Executions and Pro-Life Witness

President Trump restarted the practice of federal executions following a 17-year hiatus on Jul. 14, 2020. His administration is on track to have executed 13 people by the end of the presidential term — more than any other administration in the 20th or 21st centuries. This unprecedented backslide into federal executions raises critical moral, human, and policy…

[Book] Dignity and the Death Penalty: Evolution of Catholic Teaching

[Book] Dignity and the Death Penalty: Evolution of Catholic Teaching

Dignity and the Death Penalty is a seven-session small group resource examining Catholic teaching on the death penalty, based on the insights of Catholic anti-death penalty visionary Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ.  Created in partnership between Catholic Mobilizing Network and Renew International, Dignity and the Death Penalty helps readers and small group participants reflect on the brokenness of the criminal legal system…

[Video] Testimony from Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann on the Death Penalty

[Video] Testimony from Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann on the Death Penalty

This 7-minute video reflection by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas was recorded on the occasion of the federal government’s execution of Keith Dwayne Nelson on August 28, 2020. In this moving testimony, Archbishop Naumann shares about his own experience as the son of a murder victim and affirms the Church’s resounding call…

[One-Pager] Restorative Approaches in a Time of Racial Reckoning

[One-Pager] Restorative Approaches in a Time of Racial Reckoning

Catholic Mobilizing Network’s advocacy toward ending the death penalty and advancing justice and healing reveals the institutionalized racism and discrimination rampant in the U.S. criminal legal system, which results in the over-incarceration of Black and Brown people. Misuse and abuse of power perpetuate racial injustice and deny human beings of their God-given dignity. As a…

[Webinar] The Movie Just Mercy: An Opportunity for Church Leaders to Address Racism

[Webinar] The Movie Just Mercy: An Opportunity for Church Leaders to Address Racism

Catholic Mobilizing Network’s Executive Director Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy is on a panel of ministry leaders conversing about the movie Just Mercy, and the ways in which it can inspire action among Catholics to address the sin of racism. Just Mercy is available for streaming on digital platforms. It tells the stunning true story of young…

Death Penalty FAQ

Death Penalty FAQ

What does the Catholic Church teach about the death penalty? On August 2, 2018, the Catechism of the Catholic Church section 2267 was updated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith to reflect the Church’s evolving stance on capital punishment: “The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and…